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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24839470">Big Little Brother</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwlOfDeath/pseuds/OwlOfDeath'>OwlOfDeath</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Beyond Sand and Sea [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World of Warcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anthropomorphic, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Love, Bullying, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fantasy, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Original Character(s), Peer Pressure, Sibling Love, Vol'dun, vulpera</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:35:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24839470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OwlOfDeath/pseuds/OwlOfDeath</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As the runt of the litter Jona prefers to stick to what he's good at, away from the shoves and hurtful comments of others.<br/>However his brother Kirin won't let him hide from the world forever, he has something he wants to do, and he wants his big brother's company no matter what.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Beyond Sand and Sea [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792156</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Gen and Aro Prompts (Any fandom)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Big Little Brother</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">



        <li>In response to a prompt by
            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysteriousSunshine/pseuds/MysteriousSunshine">MysteriousSunshine</a>  in the  <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GenAndAroPrompts">GenAndAroPrompts</a>
          collection.
        </li>
    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Jona age 15.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The beads rattled softly as he pushed them aside, the wagon tilting when he hopped onto the first step, the suspension creaking unhappily. Kirin never just entered; he made an entrance, bringing with him an energy that demanded attention, like a wind that threatened to blow your hat from your head, urging you to notice it. He went over to the bed and threw himself casually onto it, huffing softly as he rolled over on his back and raised both outstretched legs up against the wall. Jona peered at the black paws next to his face then gave his younger brother a sidelong glance. There was an abacus next to his crossed legs, a wax tablet and a ledger in his lap, but Kirin didn't seem to notice or care when his movements made all the beads rattle out of order.</p><p>"Haah! The weather is great outside today," he exclaimed, reaching back to grab a small ball from the shelf behind his head, tossing it into the air and catching it, "there's a breeze from the coast here so it's not that hot."</p><p>"Mmm." </p><p>"I like this site; I hope we'll stick around for a while." Jona watched him throw the ball up and down, sighing inaudibly, but his brother still noticed it right away and trained his eyes on him with an eager grin. </p><p>"I'm doing inventory," Jona warned in his usual reserved tone, hand still frozen half-way to the tablet, hovering as it waited for the right moment to continue. </p><p>"Do it later!"</p><p>"Vesp asked me to do it now; it's supposed to be done before they return."</p><p>"You know she'll understand! I'll help you finish it later," he offered enthusiastically. "Come play kickball with us."</p><p>"Us..."</p><p>"You know, the others staying around here. Raaki, Kairou... the rest. They asked me to join them."</p><p>"You should," Jona said quickly, flicking the abacus beads back where they belonged, "they asked <i>you</i>, so."</p><p>"I don't care who they asked, I want you to be there, too."</p><p>"Well they don't," he muttered, "they keep telling me I play like a girl."</p><p>"If you play anything like Mikka..."</p><p>"You know it's not the actual words that matter, it's what they <i>mean by them</i>. They don't actually think I'm a girl, they think I'm bad at it and no one wants me on their team anyway." </p><p>Kirin stopped tossing the ball and turned his head to look at him. "<i>I</i> want you on <i>my</i> team," he said, his tone suddenly serious. "Who cares what they think. You're not bad, you're out of practice." Jona frowned, not looking at his brother but feeling his eyes on him, waiting. He let him. "Come on!" he urged after a couple of seconds of silence, "let's <i>go</i>, it's more fun with more people, and your brain needs a break by now!" </p><p>He grabbed his wrist and Jona, finding he was as incapable of resisting his brother's persistent encouragement as usual, reluctantly gave in. "Are you sure about this?" he asked carefully as he put his pen down, letting him pull him from the bed.</p><p>"Of course!" Kirin's face shone up. "Why wouldn't I be," he grinned, practically bouncing as he ushered him outside.  "It's more fun if we go together."</p><p>- - -</p><p>They were out on the empty flats not far from the caravan site, a group of around a dozen or so young vulpera kicking up a sandstorm, their excited shouting carrying on the promised ocean breeze. A few of them spotted them from a distance and stopped their play, calling eagerly for Kirin and waving him in.</p><p>"Took you long enough!" one of them yelled, an older boy with white and grey fur and blue eyes, kicking the ball away to one of the others. The brown coated vulpera next to him grinned in greeting, watching the ball momentarily as it rolled away to rejoin the game. </p><p>Jona could already spot a couple of people there who enjoyed picking on him. It usually didn't matter that he was one of the older kids there, his inferiority had already been established in their eyes, and as such he was a popular target. But with Kirin next to him no one was in the mood to pick a fight.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah," Kirin laughed, "I brought my brother as compensation! Let's do this!"</p><p>"You can be on the left with me, Kirin, we're one short," the blue eyed one said.</p><p>"Then, eh, the teams are full," the other boy added, shooting his friend a look, but he only shrugged. </p><p>Kirin tilted his head past the two, eyeing the others playing behind them. "Nope, doesn't look like it?" he smirked, putting his arm around Jona's shoulders, "If you two are on that side Jojo'll be on my team. That adds up." He gestured to the left goal; two sticks painstakingly dug into the ground to indicate what to aim the ball at, and pulled Jona along with him. He was already starting to regret coming along, but his brother's grip didn't allow him to turn back, and even without it he wasn't sure he'd have the guts to walk away, either. Kirin let him go with a smile, his eyes bright. "Let's kick their ass," he winked, patting his shoulder, "this'll be fun!"</p><p>He didn't have too much of a hard time keeping up with the rest of them, but even so he stayed on the fringes of the game, not really competing for the ball. Kirin was right in the thick of it, and now and then when he got a good chance he'd pass the ball over to Jona. Usually he'd just shoot it right back to him, uncertain what to do with the opportunity and finding the sudden attention daunting as everyone's eyes went to the ball, and him. At one point he ended up kicking the ball right to the feet of one of the girls on the opposing team, effectively giving her a great shot at the goal, even if she missed it. Kirin only laughed, running after it, though he knew not everyone on his team was as easy going about it.</p><p>But regardless of his awkwardness Jona was starting to enjoy himself a little. It felt good to run, and it didn't feel too bad to get a little sweaty either, a little bit dusty, and the times he did get the ball were kind of exciting, too. When his team scored he cheered, like the rest of them, and Kirin would run up to him and muss his hair, telling him to keep it up with a stupid, happy grin on his face. </p><p>The score evened out as the other team made a goal of their own. It was the same girl he had passed by accident earlier who had decided to take her revenge, her shot going right past the goalkeeper as if shot out of a cannon. Her team roared with joy and she ran a victory lap, soaking up the glory as the ball was being brought back into play. The goalkeeper passed it low and slow towards one of the players on Jona's team for him to get the game going again.</p><p>"Here you go!" the boy called out as he kicked the ball up high, sending it right across the field. It flew straight into the front of Jona's muzzle, bouncing off it with a hollow thump. The blood came gushing out almost immediately. He took half a confused step back, stumbling dizzily before he just sat down, reaching up to hold his hands up to his nose, blood trickling down his mouth and chin, his fingers, staining his clothes. </p><p>"Shit! Jojo?" Kirin rushed over to him, taking his elbow and helping him to his feet as he leaned in, looking at his face. "Let me see." Jona hesitantly removed his trembling hands, revealing the fountain that was his nose, his brother visibly flinching at the sight of it. "Lean your head back," he said quickly, taking a hold of his head to help him.</p><p>"No, I can't," he said, voice quivering, "I'm going to throw up." He held his bloody hands up half way up to his face, tense and shaking.</p><p>"Just don't look at it," he urged him softly, gently leaning his head back just a bit, making Jona gag a little. "I know, it's gross, try and think about something else." Kirin looked around them. There was a small group watching, the boy who had kicked the ball amongst them, but most of the others had returned to the game. "Here," he said, "put your fingers like this, and breathe through your mouth." He took Jona's hand and poked his index- and middle fingers into his nose. The pain made him wince, but he held them there as instructed.</p><p>"That was unnecessary," Kirin said coolly at the others, "why would you kick it up so high?"</p><p>"I just passed the ball to him, it's not my fault he didn't see it," he shrugged. "He's fine, isn't he? It's just a little blood. He's tougher than that, right?"</p><p>"Yeah, he is," Kirin frowned. "Anyway he can't play like this, so we're leaving." Jona suddenly felt very embarrassed about all of it. He could feel his eyes tear up from the pain, as involuntary as the blush rising to his cheeks, making him look stupid.</p><p>"No it's fine," Jona said, still awkwardly standing with his head back, fingers in his nose. He was trying to keep his trembling voice steady, but it was only turning thicker and more nasal as the swelling was starting to set it. "You should stay."</p><p>"I don't want to," he answered firmly.</p><p>"Awh, come on Kirin, don't be like that! It was an <i>accident</i>! He practically walked into it on his own!" </p><p>He shot them a glare as he put his hands on the back of Jona's shoulders, pushing him back in the direction of the caravan. "I said we're leaving. Tell the others bye."</p><p>Kirin kept a steady hand on his shoulder so he wouldn't trip on the way back. Walking with his head back made it hard to see where he was going, and he was still feeling dizzy. Vesp was sitting in the shade of the wagon whittling, dinner already roasting on spits arranged around the fire. When she saw them approach she raised her hand, but she froze mid-wave as she noticed Jona, and his bloodied clothes. She threw the knife and half-carved figure to the ground and came running.</p><p>"Jojo! Is it your nose? What happened?" she gasped, right away up in his face, looking at him with wide eyes.</p><p>"He got a ball kicked in his face," Kirin answered for him.</p><p>"It was a bass," he muttered, "and I'mb phine."</p><p>"Let me see," she said softly, concerned, "is it still coming?"</p><p>"I don't dink so..." He slowly removed his trembling hand, lowering it to finally get some blood flowing back into his fingers.</p><p>"I thought you were supposed to do inventory..."</p><p>"Don't worry about that now," Kirin frowned, "we can do that later. I figured he needed a break, he'd been sitting in that wagon all day." Vesp huffed, shaking her head. Jona just stood there, letting them talk around him, wincing as Vesp prodded his sore nose.</p><p>"You should at least have told me you were going! I thought you were still at home, what if this had been more serious?"</p><p>"Sorry."</p><p>"Tsk, Kirin, <i>don't apologize</i> when you <i>don't mean it</i>. I don't mind that you go play, just tell me next time. I'm alone with the two of you! If something were to happen, I don't even know what—"</p><p>"Yeah, I get it," he sighed, putting his heavy hand on Jona's head. </p><p>"I'll get something for this, get you cleaned up," she said as she gestured at his face, "and we'll just have to see if we can get those stains out..."</p><p>"Mmm, I'll help you," Kirin grunted, guiding Jona to the cushion she had been sitting on carefully, then squatted down in front of him, tilting his head. "How's your nose?"</p><p>"Cadn't breethe." </p><p>"Ah, yeah, you should probably not blow it yet or it'll start bleeding again. Does it hurt?"</p><p>"Mmm... A bit." </p><p>Kirin's face cracked into a wide grin as he looked at him. "You look like you just tore someone to pieces with your teeth and ate them raw," he laughed, "its pretty badass. Bet Mikka will have a <i>fit</i> when she finds out." </p><p>- - -</p><p>Jona was lying on his stomach hugging the pillow under his head, his sore muzzle carefully arranged to not touch anything. Kirin was taking up most of the bed, arms spread like he was trying to make a sand angel in his sleep, his breath calm and even. He could still feel his pulse in his nose, but the pain was less acute now, and his nausea had passed. Still the taste of old blood was disgusting, metallic, and his nose was still so swollen and stuffy he couldn't escape the smell of it. He rolled over gingerly to his side, curling up with his hand between his thighs, feeling restless and exhausted all at once.</p><p>"Sleep, silly," Kirin muttered softly, "brooding won't do you any good, and things will feel better in the morning." Ruffling his hair clumsily, half-asleep and unwittingly almost slapping his nose with his hand, Kirin turned his back to him with a deep sigh. Jona shuffled backwards until his back touched against Kirin's, and his brother did the same, getting even closer. "Don't worry," he mumbled, "I can beat him up for you tomorrow, if you like." </p><p>Jona couldn't help but smile. "Now who's being silly," he laughed softly, closing his eyes.</p>
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